25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good, quick read with a great story to tell, March 30, 2009
This review is from: The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way (Hardcover)
I first learned about Paul Teutel, his family, and his business several years ago through my son's fascination with everything motorized and "cool." We wached the reality TV series "American Chopper" together. My son liked the bikes and the characters, and I liked the characters and the bikes (some a lot more than others).
For the uininitiated, Orange County Choppers is a behemoth of a brand built by a unique man who has worked for himself almost his entire adult life. In fact, his biography is so fascinating that I found myself wishing to read more about him and his family; I had to remind myself that this book is a business philosophy book, not a biography.
Mr. Teutel credits his mega-success to relentless hard work and a passion for perfection. Most of his business principles are as well-known and as they are difficult to live by daily. Surround yourself with good people and reward them well, treat everyone with integrity, and embrace change while adhering to core values. The book is peppered with vignettes fo business decisions made, partners acquired and replaced, and descriptions fo situatinos that illustrate the points well. The book also includes a set of glossy photos of Teutel history and motorcycles.
Teutel posits that "everyone" expecte dhim to end up dead or in jail from an early age. His childhood in a very dysfunctional family included an addiction to alcohol and drugs at the age of 15 than lasted 20 years. His father and grandfather demanded relentless labor from young Paul. His father demanded, and Teutel paid, rent to his family during his adolescence. Merchant marine boot camp (at age 18) gave him his first opportunity to set a goal and achieve it.
Goal-orientedness coupled with hard work is a powerful combination which Teutel weakened with alcohol and drugs until he was 35. He credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping him achieve abstinence from drugs and alcohol for 24 years.. Demanding sobriety of hs partners and employees changed his iron works business and positioned it for growth. He turned over the iron works business and set to building motorcycles as a hobby in the early 1990s.
Ultimately, he invested his $120,000 retirement in the business that became Orange County Choppers (OCC). OCC is now an international brand operated from a 100,000+ square foot headquarters in suburban New York.
Teutel is ambivalent about his family's involvement in his business. One son took over the iron works and is apparently doing well. Two sons, Paul, Jr. and Michael, work with Dad at OCC. "American Chopper" viewers know the stormy relationship they have. While Dad always wanted his business to be a family business, he observes that things come too easily to Paul, Jr., making him casual if not lazy about deadlines and organization. "Mikey" is a lovable youngest brother with multiple interests and a good sense of humor but little ambition. Dad says that family businesses are the backbone of the economy, but that family can't be managed in the workplace like other employees, and that hurts the family members. He acknowledges the connundrum and apparently sees it as one of the few design problems he was unable to resolve.
One of the book's key messages is that it's never too late to resolve to be better - to become focused, passionate, and goal-oriented to pursue success. Hmm...my now-teenage son might read this book before a lot of other self-help/business success books. That's a good thing.
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Waste Of Time and Money, September 15, 2009
This review is from: The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way (Hardcover)
I purchased this book in great anticipation hoping to learn more about the success of this "family" business. This book is no more than a basic high school business study. There is no magic revelation as to the real reason this "family" business succeeded. The book makes NO mention of the relationship he has with the Discovery Channel and now TLC. Had it not been for the TV series I doubt most of us would know anything about OCC. He makes maybe a 3 paragraph mention of each Paulie and Mickey and gave no credit to either one for the success of OCC. Those two added personality to the show and the business and it now appears they are expendable. This man takes full credit for his masterful business plan and business acumen. He saw the bright white guiding light after he sobered up which he makes mention of in the book. But dumb luck played a major role for OCC success and again had it not been for the TV shows I am sure he would still be in his garage. I would have liked to have know how Discovery and OCC got together. I want to know what happened to Vince, Nubs and others. I am especially not happy with how little (if any) credit he gave to Pauli who is a class A fabricator and built some of most creative choppers in the world. About half way into this stupid book I really wanted to just can it. But I had the flu and nothing else to do but suffer through it. But I did leave it in the hotel trash bin. Don't waste your money on this self centered self proclaimed business expert. He did not write this, he can't even speak a complete sentence.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Post Break Up Book, August 3, 2011
This review is from: The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way (Hardcover)
This book chronicles Paul Teutel Sr.'s life well. The book was probably not written by him, but certainly he was VERY involved. He probably told his stories to a writer who cleaned up his language just a little bit.
All in all, I thought the book was great. Teutel reveals a lot about himself, personally and business wise. He talks about his childhood (or lack of), his relationship with his parents and how he got to where he is. I felt very little detail was left out and got a real sense of who he was, despite the book not being incredibly long. The book was written very well and was Easy to read. The book also did not seem propaganda, and allowed the reader to form their own opinion on Teutel.
His life certainly has been interesting, and this book is short, sweet and to the point. If you are an OCC fan or hater, a must (quick) read.
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